


Rhodie's Secret Circus

by Dark Automaton (0Dark_Automaton0)



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Sister Location - Fandom, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Circus Baby's gang as gems, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Gen, Less child death than in FNAF canon, Nonlinear plotline, permafusion, some poetry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8333806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0Dark_Automaton0/pseuds/Dark%20Automaton
Summary: A bunch of ficlets and drawing from my FNAF/SU crossover AU.
(Think of it as my way to make up for the sporadic updates of Dirk's Week at Freddy's.)





	1. Rhodochrosite External

* * *

 

The locals talked about the travelling circus troupe with looks of fondness and nostalgia. Rhoad's Flying Circus. There was a beautiful ballerina who could navigate a deadly maze with her eyes closed. A comedic duet, with one of them doubling as a strong man (albeit the title of man or woman was up for debate). There was the stage magician who could produce any scent you ask of him/her/"yes". There were the many tiny acrobats, and the oddly identical stage hands. Lastly, there was Miss Rhoad herself. Quite the powerful ringleader, beautiful too if you're into women with clown makeup on at all times. Actually, most if not all of them always wore that clown makeup.

The original ringleader of Rhoad's Flying Circus had passed away in the 1970s, the man working the ice cream shop register comments. Something about having her second kid and dying in childbirth unexpectedly. He also remarks how unusual her domestic life was. She had moved into the town in the 60s, and some of the people who were around at the time say that she hadn't aged a day since she had arrived ten years prior to her death. She dated an entrepreneur that had immigrated from Great Britain not too long before, to whom she had her children. What was so odd about it was that the man had been charged with the murder of many children in the 80s, including the disappearance of one of his own daughters.

The ice cream man now recounts how the current ringleader is the surviving daughter of the couple. Barbara "Baby" Williams-Rhoad. He says she looks much younger than any 40-something woman should be; she could pass for being in her mid-20s. It's a running joke from the local teens that she ate her older sister, and that she is literally a clown. That the makeup is actually a part of her face. The clerk waves it off as being a silly rumor. Kids these days, right?

 


	2. Rhodochrosite Internal

* * *

 

Mother dearest wasn't the angel most of the humans knew at the time. Barbara noted that her mother's fling with the human man, William Afton, was the result of what was apparently an experiment to see what would happen if a gem tried to mimic one of the most crucial mechanisms to the human species' continuation, reproduction. Rhodochrosite was a scientist, regardless of whether she worked for White Diamond or herself, first and foremost. Even amongst her small group of "followers" there were rumors that she may have had a hand in the cluster fusion experiments. Although, she would have considered it "a waste of perfectly reusable resources."

When asked how she managed to avoid corruption, the hybrid fusion remarked that there was a sort of small panic room that she had locked herself in once by mistake as a child. No sound could go in or out. They called it The Studio, as that was where Rhodochrosite would plan future tests. Barbara amended that there was a possibility that that room may have been what saved the Circus from a fate worse than death. The hybrid wondered to whom the room was for, as it was too small for an allegedly two story tall woman to fit inside. Perhaps it was meant to contain something else?

Barbara relayed what Ballora told her. Rhodochrosite was only the leader because she was very high ranking on Homeworld, and as such, knew how to manage a room full of lower class gems. Her Pearl was already a given, as were the Rubies and the Porcelains, though gaining control over the Quartz, the defective Moonstone, and the Fluorite was a much harder task. The Quartz, a mighty fine specimen as to be expected from the Alpha Kindergarten, refused to join without their small friend, the defective Moonstone. This Moonstone was incredibly small; small enough to sit comfortably in the Milky Quartz's palm. She would only stay if the Quartz did. In the end their indecision lead to them making a decision. The Pink Fluorite decided to stay, if only because they didn't want to be imprisoned by the Crystal Gems. The Fluorite was part of the Octet, a gang of Fluorites that went rogue during the war and plundered unprotected vessels. Under no circumstances did PF think that they could get away with it with the Crystal Gems, but Rhodochrosite at least didn't care much.

The idea for the Circus came in the late 1700s, when the first ones were popping up in France. Rhodochrosite saw it as a fun way to interact with the native wildlife, as well as earn money in order to obtain goods from humans without making them angry. She passed off her natural markings as makeup, all the while convincing the others to do the same. She would move the circus every so often, to keep the remaining Crystal Gems off their tail. Rose Quartz was aware of their existence, but in the end it became yet another big secret in the pile.


	3. Ballora

Like clockwork. In, and out. Stay on track.

Sliding, gliding across the floor, standing on toes, spinning.

She knows the course by heart. It scarcely changes from its routine.

Leap over this, dodge under that, do a couple flips, stick the landing.

People laugh and cheer and gasp and wince. The reactions are always so emotional.

At the end of the events, she stands dutifully next to her fellow performers,

flanked by a quartet of small, pallid girls, dressed in cream-colored facsimiles of her outfit.

Occasionally a small girl will approach, and ask for a photo.

She doesn't know what a photo is, but she accepts it. It doesn't hurt.

After the people trickle out of the tents, and the crew begins cleaning up,

Ballora waits, calmly and collected.

Until night covers the landscape in soothing darkness,

much like what she sees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to do some free verse, because my English class has been going over Walt Whitman and I've been feeling inspired.


	4. Ballora Internal

"Who is there?"

"Ah, it is you, child. Speak so I can find you."

"What do you need?"

"You wish to know about me?"

"Alright..."

"I used to belong to Rhodochrosite, Baby's mother. That was after the gem I was made for, besides the Diamonds, had died. She was a rather high-ranking Bismuth, one of perhaps five to ever receive the honor of her own custom Pearl."

"Yes, she had an undercut, like me."

"..."

" _Your_ Pearl and I are _very_ different, I think."

"Well, for one, her original owner didn't ask for her to be blind. And she chose to learn to fight; not me."

"..."

"Sigh, you're such a crybaby, child. How have you not drowned in your own tears yet?"

"Aye, I don't know why I was designed to be blind. Rhodochrosite wasn't exactly pleased to find that her new Pearl was a 'defective hand-me-down.' Her words exactly. She thought she was doing me a favor in teaching me to fight, though I could have gone without. It did find its uses much later on..."

"Ah, I can't tell you that, child, your Pearl would crack my gem on the spot if she were to hear such stories from you."

"You sure?"

"Well, fine, if you're so insistent... You know about the disappearance of Mr. Afton, right? That was us. We offed him."

"Now, now, it's not as if we're human-killing machines! It's just... He was a terrible man doing terrible things. He liked to abduct and murder children half your age; and his own offspring had witnessed it before we intervened."

"Why? Rhodochrosite had held us back from retaliating, because he was her guinea pig, and he was 'too fascinating' to kill. What reason did we have to _not_ kill him, once our leader was born and her peers were in danger?"

"Hahaha, clearly we have very different values. Nothing could be salvaged from that monster. At least that Jasper lass has some potential; she's a veteran, and a very blind one at that. Make her see that which she avoids, and she'll join your little circle of Not-Quite-Crystal-Gems."

"..."

"Well, at least she's available whenever you want her."

"I know it's not fun, my boy. I have lived on what was to be our tomb for millennia now, and hard decisions come and go at least once or twice a year. Don't blame yourself if it turns out to be the wrong choice; it hurts a lot less to just keep going and avoid dwelling. I could have saved my old mistress, but where would I be now? Shattered for stepping out of line, perhaps."


End file.
